Going Down...

(this is how we really feel !)



Today is February 14th and we have showered, which may rank as on e of the best parts of the trip, and we are sitting in the lodge reviewing summit photos.

We descended from camp at about 10,000' all the way to the gate at 5,500'! This was murder on the legs as the trail consisted mainly of rock or wood steps. So for 3 hours our knees and legs got shocked and pounded.







SOME OF KEN'S THOUGHTS
This (summit) ranks in the top 10 things I have done in my life. It was hard, but I thought it would be harder. I give credit to the African Walking Company (our guide company), the guides, drugs - namely Diamox, and preparing for the trip.

The most difficult part of the climb was the descent! Not sure if it was because of how steep the trail was or because we came from the top all the way to the bottom in only 1 1/2 days!

When I got to the crater (Stella Point) it was overwhelming. It was so beautiful. You forgot about the climb, the cold, the fact that you had been walking for 7 hours and you see the summit not far away. It is so close it seems easy and secondary to everything you see and feel at Stella Point.

At the summit, my first thought is "damn it is cold and windy". As you look around a the other climbers you have seen on the mountain for the last 5 or 6 days and you congratulate them. I want to get my photo and then start down right away because it is so cold (editors note: I did not feel cold at all. I was overtaken by the moment. Funny how two different people in the same exact place, sharing a very very similar experience can be effected so differently).

point in Africa and one of the highest places onOn the way down, nostalgic thoughts start going through my head. Especially when you see those that did not make it. The odd thing being that most of those that did not make it were young. Although I said it to myself many times, I thought and pondered in my mind that at 5 years ago, almost to the very day, that I was 3 days from being dead. How the guy who gave me the kidney (editors note: That would be me!) and I are standing above 19,000' at the highest earth and we did it with relative ease - the key being relative.